MIA 3, PHI 9; Phillies blow past the Marlins, look for sweep Sunday

The Marlins have so far not been ending their season on the right foot. Saturday was yet another loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, this time to the tune of 9-3. Caleb Smith continued his second-half down-spiral by giving up five runs in three innings of work. The Miami offense made some noise late, but not nearly enough.

Caleb Smith: 3 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 1 K, 2 HR

Zach Eflin: 7.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 1 HR

The Phils applied pressure to Smith constantly and quickly. César Hernández led-off the bottom of the first with a solo home run. Four fastballs in a row before Hernández took one out of the park, which was a high and inside ball. The next inning was also plagued with the home run ball. Sean Rodriguez got walked and Maikel Franco blasted a ball into the crowd for a two-run home run.

The third and final inning for Smith resulted in the Phils getting three more runs. Two back-to-back walks was the way the Phils started their third inning. A single and a double later and the Phils were up 6-1. That was the end of Smith's season, one that saw some good heights and some bad lows. Bryce Harper hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning for good measure, putting the Phils at 9-1.

The Fish showed some kind of life in the sixth and eighth innings. Starlin Castro collected himself an RBI single after Jon Berti got on base. The eighth's offense started with a Miguel Rojas single. Neil Walker drove him home on a two-run home run that just left the field. The Marlins had seven hits spread across the lineup and two errors.

The Marlins will play their final game of the season Sunday when Sandy Acántara takes on Phillies opener Blake Parker at 3:05 ET.

Marlins vs Phillies box score (MLB.com).

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